Sebastian Stan (+ characters) Oneshots

Bucky Barnes - Realization

Bucky Barnes x Reader

okay so this isn't exactly a request, sorry about that! in order to get back into writing ive been writing little things here and there when ideas pop into my head, and this is one of those things. it's really short and nothing too special, but i thought i would post it and maybe a couple others ive written while im working on requests! enjoy!

The day Bucky realized he loved you was, in all honestly, the most ordinary day he had ever had. Ever since HYDRA took him, he hasn't had the most normal life. For the longest time that would bother him to no end. He used to hate being the "White Wolf." Granted, he could never hate that moniker as much as he hates the Winter Soldier, but that wasn't the point. He used to hate living in the Avengers Compound. He used to hate what the serum had done to him. He used to hate feeling the need to save everyone he could just because he had been forced to take so many lives in the past. He used to hate it all. Then you came along.

You joined the Avengers after you jumped in to help them on a particularly tricky fight just outside of New York City. You had the power of electrokinesis, which as Bucky quickly learned, meant that you could manipulate, absorb, and create electricity in countless ways. You had saved the team that day, and it wasn't even two months later that you were an official member of the Avengers. You had your own room and everything, just two doors down from Bucky's.

That had been a year ago. That's a whole year that Bucky Barnes has spent around you, getting to know you and all your quirks that make you who you are. Over time he began to realize that there was surely something different about you. For the longest time he wasn't sure if it was the way you laughed, or your constant reassurance that he was safe with you, or your complete and utter trust in him that made him feel so attached to you.

It wasn't until that normal, quiet, incredibly average morning that he thought that perhaps, just perhaps, it wasn't just because you were... you. You didn't have any need to hide in front of him, and in return, he didn't feel the need to hide from you. You welcomed him and everything he brought with him with open arms and a heart big enough to hold it all. Just being around you was enough for him to feel at ease with who he is and where his life has gone.

A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he gazed at you from his place in the kitchen. He was sat on one of the breakfast stools, a steaming mug of coffee radiating a comforting warmth through his flesh hand. You, however, were curled up on one of the couches a few feet away. Your back pressed against the arm of the couch and your legs were tugged against your chest. Your favorite blanket lay lazily over your bottom half, and your new book rested comfortably in your lap. A hot beverage was within arm's reach, though you seemed too engrossed in your story to finish drinking it. Bucky made a mental note to heat it up for you once he finished his coffee.

The morning light from the wall of windows nearby cast an almost angelic shadow over your features. Everything about you in that moment felt so... right. It wasn't like you had done anything special. In fact, you were still in your PJs, and you hadn't done so much as brushed your hands through your hair since you woke up a couple of hours beforehand. The super soldier could see the familiar pattern of your favorite socks poking out from under the blanket. Those socks meant it was a lazy day. Bucky liked those socks.

So truly, you had done nothing special to earn the adoration in his gaze. Not really. You hadn't spent hours on your hair, you weren't wearing some fancy dress clothes, you weren't doing anything particularly sexy or extravagant. You were just being so genuinely you. Bucky couldn't get enough.

That's when the thought came into his head first. The thought that took him so completely by surprise that he almost dropped his mug to the ground. That was when it all started.

I love them.

He paused. His mind came to a complete halt for a full second, then it went full speed ahead into complete overdrive. So many thoughts bombarded his conscience that he couldn't possibly sort through them all. What was he thinking? How could he possibly think that? It wasn't true, was it? Surely it was just his brain being dramatic. He couldn't feel like that. Not to you, not to anyone. He was the Winter Soldier. He was a brainwashed HYDRA assassin with a metal arm credited with over two dozen assassinations in the past fifty years. He was a monster. You were an angel. He couldn't do that to anyone, but he especially couldn't do it to you. Besides, why would someone like you ever-

"Bucky?" Your voice called softly into the otherwise silent air. He was immediately pulled out of his thoughts, his head snapping up to face you. Your gaze was piercing in the way that only you could pull off. Your brows furrowed together and you had leaned forward just enough to give him your full attention. Your book was pushed off to the side.

"Doll?" He addressed you back quickly in an attempt to hide the shake in his voice. You still caught it. You always did.

You shifted around so that you sat instead on your knees. Your whole body turned to face him. "What's wrong?" You wondered aloud. Your eyes continued to scan him in search of answers in the way you always did when you knew something was wrong with him. You were usually able to find what you were looking for, but this time, he knew he didn't have to worry. It would be no use for this problem.

He forced a chuckle and turned his gaze downwards to his coffee mug. His metal finger trailed carefully over the rim. "There's nothing wrong, don't worry. I'm alright."

You blew a puff of air from your nose with an audible huff. "Don't lie to me, J. Please. You know I don't like it when you lie."

His heart felt heavy at your words. Your tone was full of sorrow, but not the kind he usually got from people. You weren't pitying him, you weren't forcing your kindness for his sake. You actually cared about him and what he was feeling. The thought alone made his eyes sting with tears he refused to shed and his metal hand clench into a tight fist.

He risked a glance up at you, and the sight knocked the breath from him immediately. He didn't even know why. Once again, you weren't doing anything incredibly noteworthy. All you were doing was watching him with a concerned, borderline adoring expression, but it was everything to him. Bucky could hear his heart pounding in his ears at this point, but it no longer felt unwelcome. He didn't feel fear or guilt or worry or any of the other countless, terrible sensations that plagued him only moments ago. They were gone, and in their place was a feeling he could only describe one way. Love.

The smile that spread across his face this time was real, perhaps the realest smile he has ever donned. It was surely the most real smile he could ever remember. It was fitting, really, because this is the happiest he could ever remember feeling as well. In that moment, nothing else really mattered. In that moment, he wasn't the Winter Soldier, he was your J. He wasn't a brainwashed HYDRA assassin, he was the happiest man alive. You weren't just another agent feeling forced into caring about his safety, you were the person he loved more than anything else in the world.

"I'll tell you later," he replied simply. "It's not the time yet." You nodded at this, clearly sensing the change and knowing he wouldn't try to get out of this any time soon. You turned back to your book and resumed your silent morning.

In that moment, nothing else mattered. In that moment, he knew he loved you.

And in that moment, he smiled.  

welp, that was it. it was super short, and i apologize for that.thank you for reading! requests coming soon, and if i continue to be a terrible person, more random drabbles like this :) ALSO! ABOUT REQUESTS, V IMPORTANT!! there are some requests here where i have asked questions about the request and they have not been answered. i will likely end up putting those requests off until the end in case the requester wishes to clarify certain details. so please check your original request posting to see if ive asked about the details!

IN PROGRESS (REQEUSTS CLOSED!!): Bucky Barnes - Wolf (REQUEST), Joshua Brummel - ??? (REQUEST), TJ Hammond - ??? (REQUEST), Winter Soldier - December 16 (REQUEST)

stay street, stay unlit, stay alive.